


Hear Our Poisonous Love

by Azar443



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canonical Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 05:14:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11548215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azar443/pseuds/Azar443
Summary: For the Tumblr prompt "Things you said after you kissed me".





	Hear Our Poisonous Love

There are many things Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore regrets in his lifetime; the death of Ariana Dumbledore, the rise of Gellert Grindelwald to power, the mistreatment of Harry Potter at the hands of the Dursleys, and oh, far too many to list down. The thing he regrets most however is  ~~the love~~ the infatuation he had for Grindelwald. It haunts him still, how his breath is taken away every single time Gellert flashed that dastardly brilliant smile at him, or how as teenagers, they fumbled their way into adulthood by exploring the hard panes and soft flesh of the other. He was lost, they say, people who mean well and who try to assuage his guilt, that Grindelwald had cast charms that addled his brain and fogged his eyes from the truth. He was young, he tells himself, young and foolish and not knowing the meaning of love. Yet now as a man of sixty, with hair that no longer burned like the sun and lines tired and weary etched across his face, flashes of hair golden blonde akin to Apollo still stir longing in his heart, as does the sound of mischievous laughter he revered in his youth.

And regardless what the starry-eyed believe, love, let alone faint echoes of it, cannot conquer all. It is on a fine summer day the year Albus turns three and sixty, with great fanfare and expectations from the wizarding world, that he quietly walks to meet the greatest love, and greatest plight, of his life. Grindelwald has hair that is lighter in hue now, and the mischief in his demeanour now twisted bands of hate and a craze of power. He smiles still, when his eyes alight upon Dumbledore, and when he stretches his arms out to welcome his old friend, it’s as if all is right in the world, and for a moment, Dumbledore wonders if he should not grasp Grindelwald’s arms in comradeship and forgo silly duels that will result in incarceration and possible death. But the slither of whispers in the voices of people struck down by callous spells cast in careless laughter urge him on, and  _oh_ , his wand feels so terribly heavy all of a sudden, as he struggles to raise the light piece of wood. The firs spell is cast, and with a joyous shout from Grindelwald who parries in return, the duel begins.

As Elphias Doge later tells everyone who will listen, and as the morning papers boldly print, the duel between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald was no doubt the greatest wizarding duel of all time. Any witnesses plucky enough to be in the proximity of the spells whizzing about in all directions take cover, because really, no one quite wants to have any appendages slashed off. Theirs is a macabre dance, with intricate steps aimed at ending lives or at the very least, maiming one’s opponent. Albus moves with quiet elegance, while Grindelwald twirls and whirls with an almost lazy grace as he deflects Dumbledore’s spells with shields of his own, and aim sharp spells that cut and slice towards his old friend. Where once they were inseparable sides of the same coin with like minds, now they’re contrasting forces of order and chaos. One of the witnesses, an artist by profession, somehow manages to sketch the two men in the midst of the duel; images which are later sold to the Daily Prophet and every wizarding magazine for a nice profit. The people will whisper in awe over the fierce determination and power each wizard exudes, of how Grindelwald looks a madman in contrast to the good and kind Dumbledore. And yet, has not Dumbledore been labeled madman by many? Perhaps both men are not as different as the people would believe.

The duel lasts for three hours, and Albus thinks he’s supposed to feel relief and pride as he casts the final spell that brings Grindelwald to his knees, defeated. But as he looks down at the man he once called friend and lover, weak and bound by silvery ropes, he thinks his heart has never been more empty. There’s less than a minute before the Aurors reach them, and even as Albus reaches down to pocket the Elder Wand, there’s a fierce kiss on his lips and his eyes are wide in horror because Merlin help him, joy has made his heart sing in that very moment, joy he should not be feeling. Because Grindelwald is a monster, and monsters deserve to be locked away and punished. And yet he does not break away, not even when the blonde wizard whispers a curiously triumphant “ _I knew you could do it_ ,  _well done, my love_ ”. Grindelwald is dragged away after, kept under lock and key in Nurmengard, and Albus Dumbledore ascends to the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts. And all is well, save for the recurring whispers Albus hears in the dead of the night, telling him again and again  _“I knew_   _you could do it, well done, my love.”_ The voices stop the day Albus Dumbledore is killed, struck down from the Astronomy Tower by Severus Snape, and strangely, Albus thinks he quite misses the voices as he falls down and deeper and under. Does Grindelwald, sequestered in his prison high above the tower of Numengard know of Dumbledore’s death, you say? The prisoners in the other cells hear a laugh, they say, loud and carefree and young, before there’s a shout of how  _“I’m ready for the next great adventure”_  and a green light, then a vexed howl as the prison walls shook and moaned. Gellert Grindelwald is found dead the next day and, perhaps some think, already on his way to join Albus Dumbledore on their next journey together.

 


End file.
